- A DIY retinal-projection headset was built using a DLP chip and documented at http://eclecti.cc/hardware/blinded-by-the-light-diy-retinal-projection, while the same author reverse-engineered the Lytro light-field file format at http://eclecti.cc/computervision/reverse-engineering-the-lytro-lfp-file-format.

- Participants compared three approaches for nanoliter-precision fluid metering in syringe pumps: repurposed optical mouse sensors (2000 dpi at 10 kfps), quadrature linear encoders (500 CPI strips), and computer-vision volumetric tracking of hanging droplets; a working prototype used a wide-VGA camera to compute droplet volume in real time by edge detection and slice-area summation.

- A 5 cm × 5 cm laser-cut microfluidic chip is being designed to store ~25,000 picoliter droplets in a 50 cm serpentine channel network; fabrication targets 5–10 min cutting time per layer with a 1000 rpm spindle and 635 µm/revolution feed, followed by 30 min bonding.

- Industrial-scale recombinant-protein strategies discussed include secretion-tag export into the broth, non-destructive harvesting via nanoporous membranes (e.g., Simpore), and native Taq polymerase purification from Thermus aquaticus lysate using polyethylenimine precipitation instead of HPLC.

- Practical DIY biology tips shared: free DNA-extraction kits from MoBio/Zymo, bead-beater lysis as an LN₂-free alternative, repurposing printer quadrature encoders for motion feedback, and using yeast extract (Vegemite) or malt extract as low-cost microbial media.

- Open questions were raised about monetizing experimental reproducibility in biology, noting that many published results are “try 20 times, it works once, let’s publish,” and anecdotal reports surfaced of bodybuilders self-experimenting with RNAi silencing and autoimmune induction against myostatin.

- OpenPCR co-founder Josh is reportedly traveling to China with $50 k to clear a backlog of unfulfilled OpenPCR kit orders, while websites cofactorbio.com and seqify.com appear offline with no recent founder updates.